Kimi Raikkonen took the blame for the pitstop incident in which he hit a Ferrari mechanic during the European Grand Prix at Valencia.The world champion injured a mechanic when he set off before the fuel nozzle had been removed during his seconds pitstop.

Raikkonen admitted it was his own fault.

“There is not much to say. I left (the pits) a bit too early,” he told reporters after the race.

“It was my fault and unfortunately I ran over the guy who was refuelling. We need to look and see what really happened.”

Although the incident dropped Raikkonen to sixth place, in the end it mattered little, as the Finn retired when his engine exploded on lap 46.

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Robert Kubica was pleased to finish a strong third in Valencia after an anxious moment when a plastic bag got trapped beneath his car early in the race.

The BMW Sauber driver’s third podium finish moved him to within two points of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the championship standings.

But he had a scare halfway through the opening stint when the errant plastic bag briefly played havoc with his car’s handling.

“Suddenly I saw a white plastic bag flying across the track, but could not avoid it and it went under the car,” said Kubica.

“I couldn’t steer for two corners, which was extremely dangerous.

“Fortunately most of the bag soon flew away, but my confidence was very low over the next sector, and I lost around three seconds.”

The time loss made no difference to Kubica’s eventual result, as he never looked like to improve on his grid position of third after a bid to pass Lewis Hamilton in the first two corners failed to come off.

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Valencia winner Felipe Massa believes Adrian Sutil was responsible for the near-collision in the pit lane which resulted in some anxious moments for the Ferrari driver as he awaited the outcome of a stewards’ inquiry.

Massa took a commanding win in the inaugural Valencia race from McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton, but the result was thrown into doubt after the stewards announced that they would conduct a post-race investigation into the pit lane incident.

Massa pointed the finger at Sutil in the post-race press conference, suggesting it was futile of the German not to let him by since, as a lapped driver, he would soon have to cede position anyway.

“I think it wasn’t very clever from his side, because even if he got out in front of me he would need to let me by, so it was a little bit of a shame to fight with him in the pit lane,” he said.

“I stopped behind him on the pit stop and we left together. So when he was passing me by I was leaving the garage, so we were side-by-side.

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The Ferrari mechanic taken out by Kimi Raikkonen in Sunday’s European GP has reportedly escaped serious injury.Raikkonen came in for his second pit stop of the afternoon embroiled in a pit race with Heikki Kovalainen for position.

However, the Ferrari driver came up short when he pulled away too soon and with the refueling hose still attached to his car.

The ensuing accident saw Raikkonen hit his mechanic, dropping him to the ground and driving over his foot with the right rear tyre.

Raikkonen finally got away while his mechanic was stretchered off to the Valencia track’s medical centre.

According to reports he has now been transfered to the local hospital with an injured foot and complaining of back pain.

Felipe Massa clinched the inaugural Valencia GP win ahead of Lewis Hamilton in what proved to be a mixed day out for Ferrari.

Massa led the grand prix from start to finish only reliquishing his P1 slot when he came into the pits. Though the stewards decided to investigate a near-collision with Adrian Sutil in the pitlane (brought on by Massa’s “unsafe release”), it was decided that the incident was worthy of only a fine and a reprimand to Massa.

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, though, put one of his mechanics in hospital with a botched pit-stop and the Finn’s engine blew moments after the incident, leaving him without a single point.

The podium was completed by BMW’s Robert Kubica who put in another solid performance to ensure he remains the fourth man in this year’s title race.

The sun shone on Valencia docks as the cars rolled out for the inaugural GP with an ambient temperature of 29C and the track at 44C. Only Nico Rosberg in the Williams would start the race on the Bridgestone Supersofts.

As the lights went out Felipe Massa got a great start from pole, while Lewis Hamilton, on the dirtier side of the grid, came under pressure from Robert Kubica. Kubica had a look down the inside of Hamilton into Turn 2 but thought better of it and backed out to protect his third place.

Raikkonen, starting from P4 on the grid, was slow off the line allowing Kovalainen through and up into his fourth place. In fact Raikkonen’s getaway was so poor that he came under pressure from Vettel who banged wheels with the Ferrari in Turn 2.

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